Rite - 17

As can be seen, the snow is slowly being progressed, and the figure's shadow is in progress...

Figures and Morality Reviewed

This from the past, August '04... worth looking at again...


Perhaps the most troubling aspect, when dealing with figures in a work, is whether or not to clothe them... most artists do not, as said, think in terms of the fact that whatever is included within a work is, by the fact that it is included, of fundamental importance... by the same token, what is NOT included is also making a statement of fundamental importance - the fact that it is not considered of major importance... clothing, even for an artist, is generally regarded as a norm... yet the fact that a naturalness - nudity - is being covered, is making a statement regarding one's relationship with the universe...as Rand pointed out, 'Art is not the means of literal transcription... this is the difference between a work of Art and a news story or a photograph.'... as such, what is shown in a work of Art pertains to one's fundamental view of a person's relationship to reality - which is why so many artists use the nude in their works, to establish the sense of universality, that what is shown pertains to all time... to a rational person, there is no problem - what is pro-human is to the good; what glorifies and/or accentuates human qualities is to the good [and a person's sexuality is very certainly a human quality] [and the first step towards showing that is portraying the naked figure]... the difficulty, then, lies in confronting the culture, which is, in many respects, in am anti-human viewing of one's self - thanks to the religions within it... because this has been the dominant - indeed, for most, the ONLY known code - there is difficulty in being able to mount a cognitive defense against it for most artists... even more confounding is being able to express sexuality of humans in a work - indeed, one would have less problems showing a bull mounting a cow than to humans lovemaking - and oddly enough, easier to show lovemaking than to showing explicit sexual arousal... in common parlance, this is called pornography - in fact, it is a religious attack on the sexual nature of human beings, and it is in knowing the nature and proper purpose of Art, and the rational ethics behind that purpose, that there can be a defense against this anti-human ranting...

Rite - 16

For the most part, the open ground and shoot are done... now, on with the rest of the snowy ground... then the rest of the trees...

Rite - 15

More additional work on the snow... and on the ground around the shoot...

Rite - 14

And back to the snowy ground, along with the open bare ground around the figure - as well as beginning the shoot...

Rite - 13

Back to more trees...

Rite - 12

As said, am on the shadows of some of the trees... and am getting this very lightness by holding the pen, a Staedtler .05, against another finger which hits the board just before the pen does, thus letting the tip just barely touch, and a finer dot achieved...

Rite - 11

Tho there are more tree trunks yet to do [they run from the third from the left to the end of the board, plus a couple more singles on the left], am going to turn to doing some of the snowy ground, working out from the base of some of the trunks, up to near the Mother Earth figure, where bare ground will be... then will return to finish the trunks...

Rite - 10

Rite - 9

In addition to the trunks, have begin secondary stippling of the figure - here seen in the face and neck and upper right arm and breast...

Rite... 8

Slowly working my way across the forest...

Rite - 7

As said, am now in the process of foresting the background...

Rite - 6

This is how it looks on the full board... and the close-up shows the two step means of doing the trunks - first getting the major details and shading, then going over with a fine stipple to tone the rest...

Rite - 5

Now that the head has been done, the trees commence... there is more refinement to do, but it will wait until all the rest is in... note that this version of the figure has her in orgasmic mode, which is the rite - the means of fertilizing Spring... this will be more apparent when the wet bare ground and shoot is rendered...

Rite - 4

Almost done with the figure - just the head to do... refinement will come later, when the trees and snow are laid in... as one might notice in this WIP, this figure is not just a nude, but a naked woman - that is, her sexuality is very present... properly, this is as it should always be, for such is how humans are born, naked and it is our naturalness which as humans we should proudly carry thru our lives - and if to some this is somehow a so-called obscenity, those are the ones who suffer moral degeneracy, not just in their [bottom line here] hatred of the human, but in their gall of seeking to force that to others... this is not a light matter - it has already been claimed against "First the Sand...", where the hairy pubes of the woman bent over making sand castles are clearly shown [tho no more so than any other part of her body in such a position]... for sure, tho, I will not let dog mentality dictate my art....

Rite - 3

A wee more done... stippling is slow in that there needs for me many breaks - the hand aches easily, and the eyes cease to focus after a time [tho looking away a bit helps in that]...

Rite... 2

Been a wee slow with the rendering, this being the xmas season and much business elsewhere, but some work has begun on the actual rendering... the Staedtler pens make much finer stippling than the Microns, so is better, tho slower... as is noted, I render not just nudes, but naked, as that is how humans are, and I glory in their full natural sexual/sensual beauty... those who are offended by such are, as such, anti-human and to the extend those chose to seek curtailment of showing the full naturalness - they are immoral... also, to be expected, this is not the usual view of 'mother nature', tho it certainly does justice to the rite of spring motif...

"Rite of Spring"

Have decided to begin showing works in progress, as much to keep aesthetic matters more at hand as to enliven this blog, allowing more focus on issues where needed to be seen... this hs the preliminary sketch... originally it was to be a large rendering, on the order of 48"x96", but events of one kind or another have caused it to be reconsidered such that now it is to be done on a 32"x40" scale... all in stipple, with the shoot being in color... the original idea was to have the figure colored, too - chocolate - and indeed it may end up as an overlayering when the work is otherwise done... only the figure, btw, has been transferred to the board - the trees here will just be as guides, and this whole section here will comprise the upper right of the board, with the fore trees forming a line leftward to the edge... and a distant cityscape will be seen behind this, with a snow ledge between them...

"Phoenix"

A slightly different turn of view - but still one of glorifying life and humanity [as humans are as much a part of nature as any other living organism]... contrary to some, this rendering does not glorify the anti-man eco-freak view... note the distant city is not one of decay, but of growth...

"Curmudgeon"

One of several metaphoric take-offs of Mother Lode, this is on the same hill but on the other side, where part of the Mother is seen above at the top... a gnarly tree, chopped yet deeply rooted, still makes its way to blooming... some have even seen it as a woman coming to form as enlightment, so there is definitely diversed views on its metaphoric implications...

On "Important"

From Rand -

"Important" - in its essential meaning, as distinguished from its more limited and superficial uses - is a metaphysical term. It pertains to that aspect of metaphysics which serves as a bridge between metaphysics and ethics: to a fundamental view of man's nature. That view involves the answers to such questions as whether the universe is knowable or not, whether man has the power of choice or not, whether he can achieve his goals in life or not. The answers to such questions are "metaphysical value-judgments", since they form the base of ethics.

Act of Creation

One of the more troubling things I've encountered over the years is the notion that creating a work of art is something frought with chimerical muses which bless and then in turn curse the various artists who seek to ply their skills to visualize... as a metaphor of psychological frustration, this may indeed be apt - but as a reality to accept as a norm, it is a falsity, and on many points...

To begin with, it is a pandering to a fantasy holdover from times in which one knew little of the ways and means of thinking beyond what was termed 'common sense', and appeals to an unknown 'other' served as an excuse to avoid the full self-responsibility of grasping the nature of what it is an artist is to do with the skill developed... to be blunt - if one does not know where one is going with their art, then they do not know what they are doing with their art, however much one protests that it is 'an adventure in discovery' [so is driving drunk down an unknown road at night with the lights out, but certainly not one seen as desired]...

The consequences are two-fold... there is a false notion that thinking about what it is one is to do in their rendering is something to be avoided, as it supposedly 'dries up' the imagination or rushes away whatever 'muse' one had to begin with - which is actually an anti-human mentality, as it is one's reasoning faculty which is the human's fundamental means of survival, of being human... all the higher animals emote, as it is a development of refinement in attuning the organism to surviving more than if it not had it - but only humans cognate, have the capacity of knowing, and thus being able to act on that knowing, building on it with further knowings, taking under advisement the emotions and analyzing them as to their validity [any real basis to that emoting, or just assumptions], and flourishing then as humans in the process... no, despite most conventional notions, there is not an inherent conflict between reason and emotions - any living organism, by the grace of its living, must, of necessity, be an integrated being, humans included... the only catch is that in humans, one must learn how to use its distinguishing characteristic, as it is not an automatic... and indeed, the more it is used, the more integrated one becomes [provided, of course, one not suppress the emotions but attune them to what is known, not what is presumed]...

The second consequence is the familiar one - the so-called 'artist block', wherein there arises a problem in how to compose, or what to compose, and why compose it in the first place...

Art is a selective re-presentation of reality according to the artist's fundamental value-judgment... this is to say that the artist, in looking at the world about, selects what the artist considers [in the context] as fundamentally important to visualize - to pick and choose those aspects of the material around, and give the artist's spiritual visualization, or meaning, of it all... this, by its nature, means all works of art have themes, even if the artist does not consciously grasp what that theme may be... if the artist is more determined to think of the themes involved, to be conscious of why certain scenes or objects arranged brings about certain emotional responses, the consequences are that the results will be better composed, and the substances better chosen and more dynamic in the visualizing... further, in being so conscious of the theming, variations invariably will arise, thus widening the imaginating and increasing opportunities for further works to be rendered - an ever spiraling outward in multiple directions which in turn insure no lack of composing ideas... and no such thing as a 'block'...

"Stoned Wall"

Another whimsical work, multiple plays on the word 'stoned'... 20"x30" colored pencils on Stonehenge paper, it was inspired by seeing another's small work of colored pebbles... as with most wall works, this also implies a 'breakthrough' to the wall...

"Blue Muse"

Always an inspiring woman, sensuous, enduring, and so lifegiving - a joy to remember forever... stippled blue ink on 12"x9" stonehenge paper...

"Grove Illusion"

What at first glance is a mere landscape, on further looking turns out to be a group of trees on a bonsai tray - thus the illusion, and the implication of the power of man...

"Original Sin"

And this is the one which "Four Bitten Fruit" is the sequel to...... an off-the-cuff rendering done last year just before the fall show - and sold, it spawned interesting comments and a few ideas which probably will not be bothered with.. this idea came because of seeing two photos, one the monkey and the other a model, sitting in much the same position, so thought it clever to have them sitting on a wall together - the apple was a natural consequence, with the theme/title coming right with it....

"Four Bitten Fruit"

This is a sort of 'sequel' to one done a year ago, "Original Sin"... in this, all is essentially the same save there's an apple core in the monkey's mouth, and three partially eaten ones beside the figure...... and the theme is basically like the other one, with the humor of philosophy involved in a number, really, of metaphoric relatings here..... since the camera did a poor job of showing the monkey, enclosed is a close-up before the wall was colored......

"The Lost"

This is, for the moment, the last of my marble metaphor series...... colored pencils on 9"x12" Stonehenge paper, it is a further enrichment in striving to get marbles to look more 'there'...... the metaphor, of course, is hardly an original one, yet this is a nice presentation of the cliche...

"Anyone Can Pollock"

This is one of the few times I have deliberately done a spoofing of another's work - in this case off a movie favorite of mine, "Ratatouille"... of course, it is also a put-down of that kind of 'art' typically personified by Jackson Pollock, that spatter/drip 'vomit disposal' that doesn't even qualify as good decorative design.... in short, a quick, amusing piece to go hand-in-hand with the little rodent's initial appearance, in an old and quickly sold work called "Critic", itself a take-off of Norman Rockwell's spoofing of Pollockian mischief.... colored pencil on 20"x16' Stonehenge paper....

"Fulfilled Life"

This is the last of my series [for now anyway] of bowl of cherries.... as seen, this is life in space, the final frontier, looking down on a landmass..... it is the final quest in a full life..... 20"x30" colored pencil on Stonehenge paper... the metaphor speaks well for itself.....

"Opening Ritual, Second Cup"

This is the color version of "Opening Ritual", noting that it takes a second cup before the day becomes in full color... it is also my most ambitious use of stippling in color inks, and am quite pleased wih the result - indeed, the only thing I would wish had the fortitude to do is to carry the coloring to the four sides, namely give the light sky blue color to the blank parts..... but the tediousness of so doing is, for the present, not enough to warrant so doing..... perhaps in a later rendering.... as with the original, the only item relating to real is the cup, a somayaki - the rest is all from my head.....

"The Individualist"

This is another one using those Walking Egg Cups of Carlton Ware in England... there was to be one more in the series - "The Marching Morons", but it is the same as this, save for the one cup not having outlandish socks.... so decided not to bother with it..... 10" x 20", this still shows the set as they actually exist, except of course for the one, seen in the close-up...... colored pencils on stonehenge paper..... other than this as another symbolism of conformity in society, there is little to add beyond the individualist is, as presumed, another 'self portrait'.....

"Personal"

This is actually a study for an upcoming color version of "Opening Ritual" - to be called "Opening, Ritual, Second Cup"...... but this can and does stand on its own...... all in stipple using FW inks and a crow quill nib....... is a somayaki cup.....an heirloom, actually, from not long after the War, part II...

"Expectations"

This is a work a little different from my usual.... originally, it was to be an acrylic piece along with others done in the 11"x14" size back a couple years ago, but never gotten beyond the sketch phase..... so I decided to try doing it in colored pencil..... a pregnant woman looking out the window at what is seen in the pane's reflection, a shuttle lift-off, implying of course a link to one of those going up with her pregnancy, and the hopes of success for both...

"Opening Ritual"

The idea of this is in an obvious one - the use
of a cup, usually
one of coffee, on a shelf by a window, along
with a bonsai getting the morning light..... all in stipple
on a 20"x30" illustration board.... there is a formality
involved here, as seen in the visual, as well as in the
use of 'ritual' in the title.... other than the cup, which is a
somayaki cup, one of several I own, all is imagination, tho
inspired by real-life bonsaii and curtains.....

"The Recalcitrant"

This is one of an ongoing series of walking egg cups as made by Carlton ware in England..... they essentially are all alike save for the shoe colors and sock patterns.... in this one, an obviously different one is involved, to amusing consequence in appearances....

"Mental Escapees"

Another in my series of 'self portraits' [as, for instance, my "Full Life"], this deals with the inevitable of one 'losing one's marbles' - in this case, mine seeking to explore not only 'outside the box' but the bag as well......like the other, is 20"x30" color pencil on stonehenge paper, and despite its otherwise negativity, is actually showing possibilities 'beyond' as in expanding one's horizons.... there's a host of other metaphoric relatings to be had in this, if one looks more closely - but that is what a good rendering is all about, the continued act of contemplation.....

Close-up......